not smart enough to use cold storage either. probably had the private keys on desktop in plain text
The point of the "$5 wrench attack" is that it's not a cryptographic break.
Given the time, I'd wager growth was completely fortuitous. They held it for the same reason I hold mine. Conversion requires either a source willing to exchange large amounts of cash for crypto, which tends to be impractical. Converting to cash through conventional sources (legal exchanges), necessarily involve either large bank deposits or, in cases like Coinbase or Kraken, conversions to cash are directly reported to IRS. I only say this because I'm in the same situation, except I didn't obtain it illegally.
Doesn't Putin have an incentive to show that he treats defectors well?
the TV miniseries on his case is well worth watching.
No police force says “oh, you have impregnable cryptography and a 42 character password, well, we only have one prisoner slot so you can go free now”.
I heard they made some shower heads that did something else.
This is the equivalent of 19th century criminals burying their cash. It’s fine. You just put the person in jail until they cooperate or die.